Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-06-25

OLa1 4EO4-ALA GLGELUEa
I proceeded, writes a Verona CORE
spondent Of the San Francisco
Chronicle, to the circus erected during
the reign Of DiocIetian, in or about the
year 264 The amphitheater is some
log feet in height, 1872 yards long, and
l46 yards wide-its entire circum-
ference being 528 yards. Forty-hve
tiers of steps rise around the amphi-
theater. The circus is, on the whole, a
peculiarly Roman open-air structure,
Its walls being composed Of enormous
stones some six feet long and three
broad, while the flights of galleries,
leaning one against the other, con
tribute most to the strength and dur
ability of the edifce. Viewed from an
eminence, the circus looks like an ez-
tlnet volcano, and generally reminds
one Of the Colosseum Of Rome. What
blood-stained visions Of the past obtrude
themselves on the minds eye, while one
gazes on these still stout and sturdy
ruins Of a semi-barbaroUs agel What
cries Of agony must not these old walls
have heard, and what wild acclamations
OF triumph must not have thrilled the
echoes Of these gigantic round vaults
and galleries at times when seventy
thousand spectators met to see Chris
tlans or gladiatOrs "butchered to make q
Roman holiday" Hither were brought
in chains tail, stalwart rustics from the
forests Of Germany to wrestle with
famished tigers in the arena; pale-faced.
white-rObed virgins, whose only crime
was that they were believers in the
doctrines Of Christ, and who paid the
penalty Of their belief, torn asunder by
the fangs Of angry lions; guiect princes
from the banks of the Danube, and
athletes from the banks of the Arno;
slaves from the palaces of the rich, and
serfs from the novels of the poor, whose
blood as it flowed, and whose agoniz-
ing cries, as they rang through the
amphitheater, tiekled the palates of
thousands Of pitiless men and women
Here sat the lordly patrician, sur
rounded by lackeys, in his well-cush-
Toned box, gloating over the CORY flesh
and bones Of the victim. By his side
Tolls his beautiful dame, ablaze with
Jewels and reveling in the luxury of
purple and fine linen, while her eyes
sparkle with unwonted briIliance, and
her sensuous lips culver in the throes
of delight as she chances downward on
the mangled remains Of forms once as
symmetrical and fauItless as her own
These bouts of muscle took place quite
frequently at Verona. Every election
Of a duumvir or an edile was a pretext
for one Of these blood-feasts; while
candidates for political hOnors often got
them up at their own expense in order
to curry popular favor, or rich folks
left legacies which were devoted to the
sustainment Of such orgies. In those
days people went to the circus Just as
people go nowadays to the cafe or
theater. The seventy-two arcades
around the amphitheater are at present
let out to cheap-jack vendors and sun
dry other peddIers. few of whom, by
the by, have any adequate idea of the
historical surroundings Of the peculiar
market-place where they dispose of
their petty wares. Antiquarians and
scholars generally protest against the
presence of the peddlers in such a spot,
but times are hard and the corporation
has a very few francs in It's treasury,
and as the letting Of the areades brings
in profit, the city ediles prefer to do as
they are doing rather than become
bankrupts by protecting the circus from
vandalism and profanity.